Early Days
by MoonlightWander
Summary: Long before Jeff Tracy creates International Rescue, two of his sons become caught up in a situation where they themselves are the ones who need rescuing. A story from the Tracy boy's childhood.
1. Plans

I've recently rediscovered the Thunderbirds! Yep, I've known these guys since I was just a little girl. A little, innocent girl who couldn't figure out if the men she was seeing on T.V were human, or just very strange looking dolls… Anyway, this is a story set during the boy's childhood, when they are still living in rural Kansas. Inspiration came from reading all the Thunderbirds fan fiction I could find on the Internet. Yes, it took me a _very_ long time.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Thunderbirds.

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Virgil Tracy was not in the best of moods. He was cold, he was wet, he was hungry, and his leg was throbbing. A fresh wave of shivers racked his body, jarring his injured limb and igniting a flare of pain. He tried hard, but he couldn't help the small, wounded sound that escaped his lips. The arm around his shoulders tightened and he felt Scott's eyes on him.

"How are you holding up, Virg?"

"I'm okay," he said quietly, but his voice was laced with fear and pain. The older boy just pulled him close.

"Hey, Scott."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have left the house this morning."

**………………………………**

"And just what might you be up to young man?"

Fifteen year-old Scott Tracy froze with his hand half way to the fridge door and took a moment to silently curse his bad luck. According to his usually reliable sources, the one who had just caught him was supposed to be occupied in a different section of the house. Obviously the information had been wrong, and he made a point to have Gordon double check his facts next time.

With well-practiced ease, he plastered on his most charming smile and turned to face the formidable force standing in the doorway. "Nothing, Grandma."

Behind the round glasses, her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't happen to be stealing food from my kitchen now, would you?"

"No, of course not!" he said hurriedly, taking a small step back. The look on his grandmother's face was murderous and, although it was taking all of his self-control not to burst out laughing, he couldn't help but feel a little bit scared.

Getting the feeling that something wasn't right, he ventured forward carefully. "What happened, Grandma? Did Virgil raid the pantry again?"

With a sigh, the old woman's anger seemed to deflate. Her hands dropped from her hips, and the expression on her face changed to one of frustration. "I swear, that boy is going to eat us out of house and home!"

Scott felt himself grin at that comment. Virgil had always had a monster appetite, but it had pretty much reached the point of ridiculousness once he turned thirteen. The kid ate constantly, and the fact that he didn't seem to gain any weight at all was a mystery to the entire household.

Noticing the smirk, Grandma Tracy frowned and surveyed him suspiciously, her eyes coming to rest on the rucksack dangling over his left shoulder. "Are you planning on going out, Scott?"

Following her gaze, he suddenly remembered the reason he had entered the kitchen in the first place and nodded. "Yeah, just for a bit of a wander around the fields. I came in to grab some water," he said, with a vague motion towards the fridge behind him.

She frowned again. "You're father doesn't like you boys going out on your own."

Inwardly, Scott winced; that was true. Being a slightly overprotective father, Jeff Tracy didn't like the idea of any of his boys wandering around the Kansas countryside alone. For this reason, expeditions were generally undertaken in pairs. Occasionally, they would go out in groups, but the younger boys were limited as to how far they could stray from home, which didn't make for very exciting adventures for the others.

"I was going to go with John," Scott said in his defence - and he wasn't lying. But the fact was that his fair-haired brother had come down with a cold two days ago, and was currently tucked up in bed, unable to leave the house. Scott had spoken with him before he came down, and John didn't mind being left behind. He said they could go together once he was feeling better.

His grandmother nodded understandingly, but she still didn't look convinced. "I'm just going to scout out the area, Grandma," he said lightly. "Nothing dangerous, I promise."

He smiled reassuringly, and after a few moments the old woman nodded. "Alright," she said. "But make sure you're home well before dinner time."

"Thanks, Grandma," Scott replied, turning to grab two bottles of water from the fridge before making his way out of the kitchen, pausing only briefly to give his grandmother a quick kiss on the cheek.

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Yeah, this chapter was a tad boring, but you got a sneak peak of what's to come ;) Reviews and constructive criticism are most welcome :)


	2. Starting Out

What's this? An update!? Wow, I'm amazed. Less than 24 hours in between. I just can't seem to get this story out of my head! Oh, well. This chapter is a bit more interesting than the last, but nothing too dramatic yet. Enjoy!

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Scott paused as he stepped out onto the front porch. This really wasn't going so well. He'd managed to dodge the Grandma bullet, but now he was faced with yet another obstacle, even more difficult to overcome than the last. He wasn't usually a big believer in karma, but maybe she was punishing him for ditching John. Either way, this really didn't seem fair.

Realising that he might as well get it over and done with, Scott steeled himself and started forward determinedly. Seated on the top step, Virgil looked up from his sketching pad as his brother passed. "Where are you going?"

Scott stopped at the bottom of the steps. "On a walk."

"Where?"

"Around."

"Can I come?"

"No."

Virgil glowered. "Why not?"

Scott sighed. "Aren't you busy?" he said, gesturing to the paper and pencil in the other boy's lap. Virgil looked down and shrugged.

"Nah, I can't seem to get it right."

Curious now, Scott made his way back up the stairs and crouched down next to his brother. The pencil sketch showed the picturesque country landscape that surrounded their old farmhouse - wooden fences and endless fields with the occasional tree shooting up from the ground. Personally, Scott thought it looked good, but he wasn't exactly an expert when came to art. In fact, apart from Virgil, none of the Tracy's really had any creative talent whatsoever. Gordon liked to argue that he was very creative, but Scott was fairly certain that his little brother's 'creativity' was just destruction with a different name.

Virgil turned to look at him. "So, can I come?"

Scott knew that he should have said no – after all, he was technically supposed to be going with John – but his brother had that matter-of-fact look on his face; the one that clearly said 'I'll just follow you anyway'. Scott rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "Go get ready. I'll wait for you." Virgil grinned and raced inside.

He emerged a few minutes later with a jacket slung over one arm and a slight bulge in the right pocket of his jeans. Scott looked from the sunny yard behind him, back to the jacket, which his brother was now pulling on, and raised an eyebrow. Virgil shrugged. "The weather's supposed to turn later."

Scott nodded in approval. Sometimes, his little brother showed a lot of common sense.

The two boys started out towards the eastern side of the house and jumped the wooden fence that showed where their property ended. Barely five minutes later, Virgil shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out the object that had been causing the bulge - a fruit bar. Scott laughed.

Virgil stopped half way through ripping off the wrapper and looked at his brother in surprise. "What?"

Scott was still grinning. "Grandma's going to murder you, Virg."

The younger boy looked down at the food in his hand and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, she probably will." He was silent for a few seconds and then appeared to decide that he was still hungry, because he finished unwrapping the bar and shoved half of it into his mouth. Scott just shook his head and adjusted the bag on his shoulders.

It was a beautiful day - sunny, but not uncomfortably warm, and very still. There were clouds in the sky, but they were white and innocent looking. Vaguely, Scott wondered if Virgil had been wrong about the weather. Looking over, he saw that his brother had finished eating, so he reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "Heads up," he called, and threw the bottle.

Virgil turned and caught it with one hand, fumbling slightly. He took a few great gulps, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, before throwing it back. "So," he asked. "Where exactly are we going?"

Scott grinned and gave him a knowing look. "You know that old abandoned farm house?"

"I thought Dad said we weren't allowed to go there."

"We're not."

"So, why are we talking about it?"

Scott sighed in frustration. "We're not going _there_. We're going past it."

"What's past the abandoned farm house?"

"You'll see when we get there."

Virgil looked annoyed. He and Scott had always got along well while they were growing up. The two oldest boys had tended to stick together a lot of the time, but while John often had his head in the clouds, Virgil was a much more down to earth kind of person, and very mature for his age – qualities which Scott appreciated. But he was still a younger brother, and that meant that he often found himself left behind with Alan and Gordon while Scott and John did their own thing; although, that had recently started to change.

Virgil had turned thirteen this year, which meant that he was no longer just dismissed as one of the 'kids'. It was strange at first, but gradually he found himself spending more and more time with his older brothers – and he enjoyed it (because frankly, Gordon and Alan could be a bit scary sometimes…).

"Look, there it is."

Scott's voice pulled Virgil out of his musings and drew his attention to the old, run-down building in front of them. As far as they knew, nobody had any clue as to how long the building had actually been there – although their grandmother assured them that it was a very long time. The building itself was actually more of a wooden panelled hut than anything else. The windows were smashed in and the roof had holes in it, but that was about all the Tracy boys knew about it, because their father had forbidden them from entering.

A lot of the local kids enjoyed coming up there at night and spreading rumours that the place was haunted, but right now, in the glow of the afternoon sun, it didn't really look that scary at all.

Virgil felt something gently nudge his arm, and he turned to see Scott standing next to him, pointing to the silhouette of a small hill away in the distance.

"That," he said, "is where we're going."

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Reviews are lovely :)


	3. Discovery

Yep, another chapter :) I know the first two were kind of short, but hopefully this one will make up for it. Oh, and just so there's no confusion, I made a very minor edit to the first chapter. Nothing big – I just realised that something wasn't going to work and fixed it up :)

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"Wow…"

"I know."

"Scott, it's huge!"

"That's what I told you, but did you believe me? _No_."

Virgil rolled his eyes and shoved his brother playfully. "Okay, I get it. You were right, I'll never doubt you again."

"Make sure you don't," Scott said with a smile, and then returned his attention to the magnificent sight in front of them.

When Scott had first pointed out their destination, his brother had been more than a little confused. Basically, he'd told Scott that if he'd wanted to look at a tree, he would have stayed in the backyard. For that was their destination - a tree perched on a small hill on the horizon. However, as they began to close the distance, Virgil noticed that the small hill wasn't so small after all, and that the same went for the tree.

At the moment, they were standing a good fifteen meters out from the trunk, where the branches ended just over their heads. The thing was enormous.

"I should have brought my sketch pad," Virgil said suddenly. The urge to get the image down on paper was almost overwhelming.

Beside him, Scott shook his head. "You wouldn't have had time," he said, knowing full well what his brother wanted to do. "It's already starting to get late. We can't stay too long."

Virgil cursed quietly but his eyes stayed glued to the sight before them. He tried to take in every little detail, determined to commit it to memory so that he could copy it down once they got home. Scott strolled over to him and casually hung an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'm planning to come back down here with John once he gets better. You can come with us. We'll leave early so you have time to get it down."

Virgil tore his eyes away and looked up at his brother. He grinned. "Thanks, Scott."

"Now," Scott said, moving away. "What do you say we do a little exploring?" Virgil's only response was to take off running towards the tree trunk, with his older brother only seconds behind.

Under the shade of the giant tree it was like a different world. The sturdy branches and thick foliage stretched out like a protective blanket above them, while thousands of tiny pinpricks of light filtered through the canopy. The scene was magical and Scott made a silent promise that he would get the whole family down there to see it. It seemed like the kind of thing Alan and Gordon would love.

At that moment, Virgil appeared beside him, his eyes wide with wonder. "Scott, how did you know about this?"

He grinned. "Last week, I came down this way with John because he wanted to get a better look at the 'haunted house'. We saw it from there but we didn't have enough time to come check it out," he said. "He was going to come with me today, but…you know what happened."

Virgil had moved away from him and was now running his hands over the rough surface of the bark. "Do you think Grandma knows about it?" he asked. "Or Father?"

Scott stopped in surprise, and then shrugged. "Not sure," he said. "I don't think Father does, but you can never be sure with Grandma…" He waited for a reply but the seconds passed without a sound. He frowned; Virgil had disappeared from sight. "Virg?" he called.

"Over here!" he heard his brother yell. "Come look at this!" The reply seemed to have come from the other side of the thick trunk. Carefully, Scott made his way around the base of the tree, being mindful not to trip on one of the many roots that covered the ground.

"What is it?" he asked as he came to stand next to his brother. Virgil just pointed. It appeared that at least _someone _had discovered this glorious piece of nature before them, because travelling all the way up the side of the tree was a crudely designed ladder made from small planks of wood. Each one had been nailed into the trunk.

Yet, this wasn't what had caught their attention. Instead, both boys were staring intently at the place where the wooden handholds ended, and the clear outline of a structure could be seen nestled among the leaves on the lower branches.

Virgil looked sideways at his brother. "Is that what I think it is?" Scott caught his gaze and nodded, a smile spreading across his face.

"Tree house," they said together.

Virgil stepped forward and gripped one of the lower wooden handholds, giving it a good shake - it held. "They seem pretty sturdy," he said over his shoulder.

Scott joined him. "Yeah, but we don't know how old they are," he replied. "We'll have to take it slow."

The younger boy nodded and started forward but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He tuned and looked enquiringly at his brother. "I'll go first," Scott said.

"I'm lighter," Virgil countered.

"That doesn't mean it wont break."

Virgil rolled his eyes; he knew what was going on here. Scott had sensed that this could possibly turn into a dangerous situation and had switched to 'protective big brother' mode accordingly. It was something he did a lot. Knowing that arguing would be pointless, Virgil took a step back and gestured towards the makeshift ladder. "After you."

Scott nodded and flashed him a smile before grabbing one of the higher outcroppings and hauling himself up. "Stay a few steps behind me," he called down.

"Right," Virgil muttered irritably, but he could see sense in Scott's words and obediently waited a few seconds before starting the climb himself.

They travelled slowly, checking each and every handhold carefully before putting weight on it. It was the safest option, but the work was tedious and the patience of both boys began to wear thin. In the end, it took them a good five minutes to reach the top.

Panting slightly, Scott reached up and gripped edge of the wooden floor. He'd finally made it. With one mighty heave, he managed to drag himself away from the trunk and onto the planks supported by the tree's thick lower branches. Moving back towards the edge, he reached down and offered his hand to Virgil, who took it gratefully. With all the strength left in his arm, Scott hauled his brother onto the floor of the tree house where they both collapsed, tired and out of breath.

Once some of his strength had returned, Scott propped himself up on his elbows and surveyed his surroundings. The tree house itself was probably better described as a lookout post. The floor was roughly square shaped - about three by four metres – and there was a wooden railing that ran around three of the sides. The side where they had climbed up – the one that ran alongside the tree trunk – was left clear.

Scott noticed movement beside him and turned to see Virgil getting slowly to his feet. He went to take a step forward but Scott's commanding voice stopped him in his tracks. "Hold it, Virg." The younger boy faced his brother and fixed him with a look. "We still don't know if it's safe," Scott explained as he also rose to his feet.

Virgil nodded. "Right."

This time they both started forward, but more cautiously and with Scott taking the lead. In much the same manner that they had tested the ladder, the boys carefully made their way along the deck. The experience was nerve wracking, but with every step that _didn't _send them hurtling back down to the ground, their confidence grew. Eventually, both boys were completely at ease.

A little while later found Scott standing with one hand resting on the tree trunk and his eyes directed downward as he admired the long fall back to earth. He hadn't noticed it before, but they were actually a lot higher than he'd originally thought. On the opposite side of the platform, Virgil was leaning gently on the railing and staring off into the distance. From that position, he had an amazing view of the surrounding countryside – he could even see the old abandoned farmhouse in the distance. "This is so cool…" he breathed.

When he finally managed to look away, Virgil was surprised at how dark it had become. He tilted his face skyward and squinted as he tried to catch a glimpse of blue through the green, but as far as he could tell, the sky had clouded over while he and Scott had been distracted. Without the sun, everything suddenly seemed a lot more gloomy – and cold. Unconsciously, he pulled his jacket tighter around him and turned to seek out his brother. "Hey, Scott!" he called. "I think the weather is taking a turn for the worse."

"Really?" Scott asked. He didn't bother turning around, but craned his neck to get a better look at the sky.

"Yeah, maybe we shou-"

Virgil never got a chance to finish his sentence, because at that moment, the unbelievably loud sound of splintering wood pierced the air.

Scott whirled around, but he could only watch in horror as his brother's eyes widened in shock before the younger boy plunged through the floor.

"_Virgil!_"

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Okay, I'll admit, that last bit was just mean. Still, we couldn't let Scott and Virg have an _accident free_ adventure, could we? *evil grin* Review and let me know what you think :)


	4. Complications

Yes! It's finally done! This chapter was giving me a bit of trouble. Even now, I still don't have it exactly the way I want. Still, I wanted to get it over and done with because updates may take a little longer from now on. Anyway, I'll stop yapping and let you read :)

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Scott already knew that it was too late, but that didn't stop him from making a desperate leap towards the spot where his brother had been standing only seconds before. The whole thing had happened so fast that his brain was having trouble keeping up. That was probably the reason why he didn't realise the danger he was still in until he stumbled and felt the now not-so-stable floor start to give way under his feet.

Instinct took over and he scrambled wildly backwards, only stopping when his back slammed painfully into the trunk of the tree. For a few terrifying seconds, the crumbling floor continued to creep towards him, and Scott was assaulted with horrible visions of himself falling rapidly through the air, the ground rushing up to meet him… until it stopped.

The abrupt lack of sound left his ears ringing. Suddenly, the world just seemed to be much too quiet, and his own ragged breathing much too loud. The sensation left him feeling strangely confused and light-headed, and he found himself gripping the tree for support.

Desperately, Scott tried to get a hold of himself. He didn't have time to just stand around. Virgil. He needed to get to Virgil. That was the only thing that was important now.

He couldn't exactly remember _how_ he'd done it, but somehow Scott managed to climb off the destroyed platform and back onto the ladder – a task made increasingly difficult due to the fact that his limbs refused to stop shaking. From there, he began his decent.

His pace was recklessly fast, but despite that, the trip down seemed to take a long time – far _too_ long in Scott's opinion. In the back of his mind, his own casual observations from earlier came back to haunt him.

_They were a lot higher than he'd originally thought…_

He shook his head. No, dwelling on that wasn't going to help anyone. He had to focus on the task at hand.

When he was only a few meters from the ground, Scott was able to turn himself around enough to get a good view of what lay on the ground behind him. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Virgil lay motionless on the ground, curled up and surrounded by a sea of twisted roots and fallen leaves.

Without even thinking, Scott launched himself off the ladder. He hit the ground hard and almost fell, but that didn't stop him. He stumbled forward until he reached the younger boy and sank to his knees beside him.

"Virgil! Virg, are you okay?" he asked frantically. The other boy was conscious – that much was obvious – but his face was scrunched up in pain and he refused to open his eyes. In fact, he wouldn't even acknowledge Scott's presence, which was enough to make the older boy worry.

"C'mon, Virg. I need you to tell me what hurts."

"My leg," Virgil gasped, and then quickly clenched his mouth shut again. Scott got the feeling that if he kept it open too long, the younger boy wouldn't be able to hold back a scream.

"Which one?" he asked.

"Right."

Scott nodded. "Okay, Virg. Just hold on a sec, I'm gonna take a look." Slowly, he crawled over to his brother's other side and examined the injured limb. At first, he couldn't see anything wrong, and it was only _after_ he'd lifted the leg of his brother's jeans when he saw the bone poking out grotesquely from under the skin. There was no blood, but that didn't make the sight any less disturbing.

"How bad is it?" he heard Virgil ask.

"Not too bad," Scott replied quickly. Of course, that statement was completely false, but he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, his brother wouldn't be any better off knowing that there was a _bone_ sticking out of his leg. Unfortunately for him, Virgil had other plans.

"Liar. I saw it."

Scott felt his hands clench into fists. That was it; he'd had enough.

"You know, you really aren't helping yourself, Virg!" he snapped. The younger boy flinched and turned away slightly. He still wouldn't meet Scott's gaze – which was probably a good thing in that situation, because the older boy was glaring daggers in his direction. "I'm serious!" Scott yelled. "What the hell is up with you? Why won't you look at me!?"

The older boy's fist slammed down on the ground, anger and frustration coming off him in waves. It took a few moments, but once the red haze in front of his eyes had disappeared, Scott saw that his outburst had not gone unnoticed. He hadn't realised it before now, but Virgil appeared to have curled in on himself and had moved as far away from his older brother as he possibly could without injuring himself further. Scott's gaze softened.

'_Damn',_ he thought. _'I wasn't supposed to lose my temper like that…'_

Tentatively, he reached out a hand towards his brother. Virgil shied away from his touch – which hurt a lot more than the oldest Tracy was willing to admit – but Scott ignored that and gripped the younger boy's shoulder tightly. "Sorry, buddy, I didn't mean that," he said softly. "I guess I'm just a bit stressed out at the moment." Silence, and then…

"Don't call me that."

Scott looked confused. "Huh?"

"I said, don't call me that," Virgil mumbled.

The older boy looked at him questioningly. "Why not?"

"Because," Virgil replied, grinding the words out through his clenched teeth, "I'm not Alan, Scott. Or Gordon. You don't have to treat me like a little kid."

That last part was said so bitterly that Scott could only stare in disbelief. There it was. The reason why Virgil wouldn't meet his concerned gaze; the reason why he wouldn't cry, or even acknowledge the pain he was feeling – he was trying to prove himself. Scott shook his head, wondering why he hadn't picked up on it before.

"I know that, Virg," he said earnestly. "But no matter how old you get, you're always going to be my little brother." Virgil just looked at him sullenly. "No, really," Scott said. "It's my responsibility to look after you – you _and_ all of our brothers. And if it was Johnny in this situation instead of you, I'd be treating him exactly the same way." Virgil had his head down now, trying unsuccessfully to hide his face from view. "You don't have to prove anything to me, Virg," Scott said quietly.

That appeared to be a breaking point for the younger boy, because the next thing he knew, the tears which he had been holding in for so long finally spilled down his cheeks and he found himself wrapped tightly in his brother's warm embrace. That was the way they stayed, still and silent, until Virgil mumbled something unintelligible. Scott loosened his grip and looked down at him. "What was that?"

"You know, this totally ruins the point I was trying to make," he said miserably, indicating to the tear tracks now covering his face.

Scott chuckled. "Don't worry, I wont tell anyone."

A ghost of a smile flashed across the younger boy's face, but it was gone a second later. His leg was still throbbing and he was in far too much pain to be enjoying _any_ aspect of this situation. Virgil sighed and looked dejectedly into the face of his older brother, his brown eyes dark with worry.

"What are we gonna do, Scott?"

The older boy sighed. "Well, we don't have any way to contact home, and they probably wont be expecting us back for at least a couple of hours," he said, checking his watch. "So, I guess our only options are to stay here until everyone realises that something is wrong and comes looking for us, or try to head back home ourselves."

Virgil waited a few seconds, and then nodded. For him, the decision was an easy one. "Alright," he said, "let's get going."

Scott stared at him in shock. "What? No way, Virg! I don't even think you can _stand_, let alone walk all the way back home."

"C'mon, Scott! I can't just – "

Virgil stopped abruptly as a loud rumble of thunder sounded overhead.

Scott looked up in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me…" As if to prove him wrong, the rumble came again, even louder than before and followed by the unmistakable sound of rain pouring from the heavens. "A storm?" Scott growled.

"Yeah, looks like it…" Virgil said hesitantly. He suddenly looked very nervous. "Scott, I really think we should go."

"Why?" Scott asked tersely.

"Because," the younger boy replied, "it's a_ thunder storm_, and we're sitting under a _giant tree_."

"…Crap."

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Wow, I was just reading back over that and I realised that nothing _actually _happens in this chapter. Seriously, it's just Scott climbing down a tree and walking over to Virgil. Anyway, I hope there wasn't too much corny emotional stuff for everyone. Review and let me know :)


	5. More Complications

Yep, it's a new chapter. I'm not sure why, but I think this one is my favourite out of the story so far. Anyway, I'd just like to take a moment to thank everyone who's reviewed – you guys really make my day :) Now, on with the show…

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Virgil took another painful step forward and – to his horror – felt his foot slip on the wet ground. If not for his arm around Scott's neck, he surely would have fallen.

"Careful, Virg," the older boy said as he helped his brother regain his balance.

"Sorry," Virgil said quietly. Scott almost didn't hear him over the lashing rain and – not for the first time – he wondered if there had possibly been some way for them to avoid their current predicament.

Standing under a giant tree, with thunder growling overhead, it had seemed like a good idea to get as far away from their location as possible. Now, though, trudging along through the torrential rain and soaked to the skin, Scott was starting to think that they might have been better off risking the lightning.

Once he was sure that Virgil was steady on his feet, the two started off again. They moved slowly, but that was about the only pace that the younger boy could keep up with. Scott had offered to carry him before they set out, but once again, Virgil had been the voice of reason and pointed out that it would be impossible for the older boy to carry him all that way. In the end, Scott had relented, but he wasn't happy about it. Walking with a broken leg was bad enough, but in this weather, they were both going to be lucky if they didn't come down with hypothermia.

As the rain seemed beat down on them even heavier than before, Scott shuddered. He looked down at his bare arms and suddenly wished that he'd brought a jacket. Not that it was really doing all that much for Virgil. Sure, at the beginning it had been a blessing, but now it was just drenched like all of his other clothing and probably more of a hindrance that a comfort.

Scott sighed and turned his gaze to the vast expanse of land that still separated them from home. This was going to be a lot harder than he'd originally thought.

"Hey, Scott."

The older boy looked down in surprise. Virgil had been so quiet since they'd started out that was strange to hear him speak, let alone initiate a conversation.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Dad's home yet?"

Scott frowned. "No, he said that he wouldn't be back until late tonight. Remember?"

Beside him, Virgil nodded gloomily. "Yeah…"

The older boy smiled sadly. He knew what his brother was hoping for, but it wasn't going to happen. Their father had always seemed like a man who could solve any problem, but no matter how brilliant Jeff Tracy was, there was no way that he could know of his son's situation. This time he wasn't coming to save the day.

Lifting his gaze again, Scott was surprised to see the dark outline of a large shape ahead. He squinted through the rain, staring intently at the image until he suddenly realised why it looked so familiar. It was the abandoned farmhouse.

Scott allowed himself a moment to sigh in relief. It finally seemed like their luck was turning. Carefully, he adjusted the angle at which they were walking so that they were headed straight toward the old building. Virgil, who still hadn't noticed it, looked up in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"It's crazy to think that we're going to make it home through this weather," the older boy said. "We can wait out the storm in there." He pointed to the rundown farmhouse, and Virgil nodded.

Their pace quickened as they neared the building, both of them eager to get out of the rain. When they finally reached the door, it swung open easily and they stepped gratefully into relatively dry room. Scott made sure that Virgil was settled against the wall beside the door before closing it.

As far as he could tell, the inside of the building was mostly empty, save for a few pieces of broken furniture. Then again – despite the smashed windows and holes in the roof – the lighting was very dim, which made it difficult to see anything. With a sigh, he shrugged the now soaking rucksack off his shoulders and leant against the wall, eyes closed – he was exhausted.

A minute or so later, he once again felt the unpleasant sensation of raindrops on his skin. Annoyed, he opened his eyes and turned to face the source of his discomfort – the window. This one, like all the others, was also broken, but it just happened to be positioned in a spot where the wind could carry the rain right inside. Scott didn't much fancy the thought getting any wetter – although he wasn't sure that was even _possible _considering how wet he already was. Curiously, he wondered if he could maybe find something to block it, so he pushed off the wall and started toward the other side of the room.

Virgil, who hadn't done much since they'd arrived, looked up as Scott moved. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," the older boy replied. "I'm just looking for something to cover the window." Virgil didn't say anything back, but Scott wasn't surprised. The younger boy had sounded tired. As he moved further away from the door, it became even harder to see – which was probably why Scott didn't notice the upturned chair until he literally stumbled over the top of it.

Tripping over – although embarrassing – wasn't a big deal. But when his hands, thrown out instinctively to break his fall, hit the ground and he felt the sudden stab of pain into his left palm, Scott knew that something was wrong.

The pain was so intense and unexpected that he couldn't help but let out a yell. He heard Virgil call out to him, but he ignored that and focussed on sitting up and assessing the damage. When he saw what was causing the pain, he felt his stomach tighten. Embedded deeply in his palm was a large shard of glass.

"Scott, what is it? What's wrong?"

Virgil was sounding pretty anxious now, so the older boy was quick to reassure him. "I'm okay, it's nothing."

"Stop lying, Scott. What did you do?"

Scott smiled slightly through the pain. He had to hand it to his brother; he could be very commanding at times. Still, Virgil shouldn't have been worrying about him – the younger boy had enough to deal with as it was.

"Seriously, Virg, it's not that bad," Scott said as he stood up and made his way toward his brother. Personally, he was proud at how convincing he sounded. As he got closer, he could see the pain-filled glare that Virgil was giving him. Scott guessed that he had startled the younger boy when he yelled and immediately felt guilty. When he sank to the ground next to his brother, the other boy could only stare at his hand. There was a lot of blood.

"Scott," Virgil said weakly, "that's in deep."

"I know," Scott replied. He paused. "I think I'm going to have to take it out."

The younger boy's head snapped up. "What!? Scott, won't that just cause more damage?"

"Probably," the older boy admitted, "but I can't just leave it like that. What if I fall over again when we're heading back home? It'd go right through my hand."

Virgil winced – obviously imagining just how_ that_ little scenario would play out – and then nodded. "Alright, but be careful."

Scott took a deep breath and let it out slowly, well aware of the younger boy watching his every move. He held his left hand out in front of him – palm facing upwards – and gently brushed the glass with the fingers of his other hand. The action caused a fresh spike of pain and Scott had grit his teeth. This was going to hurt. In one fluid motion, he gripped the shard tightly with his right hand and pulled.

It hurt more coming out than it had going in, but Scott was prepared for the pain this time and only grunted in response. Immediately, he dropped the shard – which clattered as it hit the wooden floor – and held his hand close. Now that there was nothing blocking its path, blood was flowing freely from the wound.

"Scott."

The older boy opened his eyes – which he couldn't actually remember closing – and looked over at his brother. Virgil had managed to wriggle out of his jacket and was holding out one of the sleeves to him. "Tie this around it."

Scott nodded and took the makeshift bandage, but found that he couldn't really do anything with it with only one good hand. After about twenty seconds of pointless fumbling, Virgil chose to ignore his brother's pride and reached out to tie it himself. The material was wet and freezing cold, but it helped slow the bleeding.

Scott looked over to his brother. "Thanks."

"No problem," the younger boy replied tiredly, but now that he had discarded the jacket, Scott could see that he was shivering. Slowly, the older boy moved so that he was leaning against the wall next to his brother and put his good arm around him. Even so, the shivering wouldn't stop and when Virgil let out a small, pained sound, the older boy looked down in concern.

"How are you holding up, Virg?" he asked quietly.

"I'm okay," the younger boy replied, but he sounded far from convincing. The older boy just pulled him close.

"Hey, Scott," he said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have left the house this morning."

Despite their horrible situation, Scott felt himself laugh softly. "You know what? I was thinking the exact same thing."

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I figured it was about time Scott got some attention :) And would you look at that, we've tied back in to the beginning of the story! Amazing, huh? Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated :)


	6. Heading Home

Okay, firstly I need to apologise to everyone for the wait – believe me, I didn't intend for it to take this long! Things have just gotten a bit more hectic since school started up again... but who cares about that? The new chapter is here (finally!) and ready for reading :) Enjoy!

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Scott had never really been one to sit around and daydream; that was more John's forte. But while the storm continued to rage outside, he found himself sinking into some kind of trance. The noise of rain pounding on the roof faded into the background and the only thing he was really aware of was the subdued throbbing of his hand and Virgil's head resting on his shoulder. Scott couldn't remember when the younger boy had fallen asleep – or passed out from pain, he really wasn't sure – but it seemed like a long time ago. His unresponsive brother had left him feeling unusually lonely at first, but Scott didn't have the heart to wake him. He was probably more comfortable _now_ than he had been since they'd left earlier that afternoon.

The older boy took a breath of icy air and wondered just how their innocent Sunday stroll had turned into a fight for survival. Yes, some of the choices he'd made hadn't been very responsible; Scott knew that and was fully prepared to accept the consequences of his actions. But still, he couldn't help noticing the very bad luck that had plagued them since they'd reached that darned tree. It almost didn't seem possible...

He frowned. That thought seemed familiar to him somehow. Vaguely, he allowed his mind to wander back to the events that had occurred earlier that day. Bad luck, Grandma catching him at the fridge, Virgil on the porch, ditching John... karma. Yes, that was it. Before he'd even left home, Scott could remember thinking fleetingly that he must have done something to annoy karma, because it had been so difficult for him to get out of the house.

He suddenly felt a flare of anger and was contemplating hitting something until the rational part of his brain took over and reminded him that he was getting angry at something that didn't exist. Blaming his situation on karma was just stupid... but he was desperate. Almost unintentionally, Scott found himself speaking aloud.

"Look, I don't know what I did to piss you off so much, but I'm sorry. Okay?"

His words were met with silence and Scott immediately felt foolish. Like apologising to thin air was going to help. What he needed to do was regain control of the situation and get his brother home through that damn storm... which suddenly wasn't making as much noise as before. Confused, Scott lifted his head and stared at the ceiling, his ears strained. Nothing. Not a sound.

He looked back down again, his brow furrowed in concentration. When had it stopped raining? Scott had been so out of it that he didn't even know. Carefully, he shifted his sleeping brother off him and stood up, using the wall for support. Walking was a lot more difficult than he remembered, but Scott somehow managed to make his way over to the nearest window. It was dark outside and smelt like wet grass, but the rain had definitely stopped. He slumped in relief – finally, some _good_ luck. But just before he turned away, a beam of light cut through the darkness and caught his eye.

Quickly, Scott moved to the side so he was out of sight and once again peered through window. There were two lights now and although they were still some distance away, he could tell that they were getting closer. His eyes flickered back to where Virgil's sleeping form still rested against the wall. He was desperately hoping that whoever those lights belonged to would be able to help them, but until he was sure, Scott wasn't about to give away their location. He couldn't risk his brother's safety like that. And considering that every piece of good luck they had come across so far had been accompanied by something bad, the older boy felt he had a right to be suspicious. The lights continued to move closer, and after a few minutes Scott could make out voices:

"Is that it up ahead?"

"Yeah, that's it. You wouldn't believe how many times I've been called up here to fetch kids who've snuck out while their parent's backs are turned. They've got some kind of fascination with the place."

"Do you think they're in there?"

"Well, we were told they'd come up around this area. If they were still here when the storm hit, it would've been the best place to wait it out."

Scott let himself relax at these words. Of course, their grandma would have been worried sick when the storm hit and they weren't back yet. She must have sent someone out to look for them – local law enforcement by the sound of it. He mentally kicked himself for not coming to that conclusion sooner. Suddenly, the voices were right outside, and the next moment the door was pushed open. Scott, who had been moving away from the window, shielded his eyes as the beam of a flashlight found his face.

"Sorry," he heard someone say, and the light was lowered. "Are you one of the Tracy boys?"

Scott blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. When they did, he saw a young man in a uniform – probably mid to late twenties – standing in front of him. He had a friendly face and Scott could see the slight concern in his eyes, but his manner was professional. Behind him, there was another man, older than the first, who acknowledged Scott's presence only briefly before searching the rest of the room with his flashlight.

"Yes, sir. Scott Tracy," Scott replied.

The young man looked slightly surprised at how formal his tone was, but Scott saw the other man nod his head in approval as he continued to search. "Scott, we're from the local police station," the younger one said after a moment. "I'm Charlie and this is Frank." He turned and gestured to his colleague, who stopped and fixed Scott with a look.

"Where's your brother?" he asked gruffly. The way he said it sounded rude, almost accusatory, but Scott didn't think that was intentional. He just seemed like a 'business first' kind of person.

The teenager opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a weary, confused voice.

"Scott? What's going on?"

All eyes turned to Virgil, still resting against the wall by the now open door. The police had completely missed him when they'd fist walked in, but now he made his presence known. The older boy moved past the two officers and knelt next to his brother. "It's okay, Virg," he said reassuringly, well aware of the two sets of eyes watching him closely. "Two police officers just arrived. Grandma sent them to look for us." Technically, nobody had actually _told_ him that, but it seemed like the most obvious explanation. And the officers in question didn't contradict him, so he guessed he'd been right.

After a few moments, the younger man, Charlie, came over and also knelt in front of the younger boy. Frank moved closer too, but remained standing. "I'm guessing you're Virgil?" Charlie asked.

The young boy nodded slowly, obviously still trying to make sense of what was going on.

"You're family has been worried about you," he continued. "How about we take you back home?"

Although still confused, Virgil seemed to understand that well enough and made a move to get up. Of course, with a broken leg that really wasn't a good idea, but the younger boy seemed to have forgotten that in his half conscious state. Before Scott could even yell out a warning, Virgil cried out in pain and reached toward his injured limb.

Charlie started forward. "Are you hurt?" he asked urgently, but there was a hint of surprise in his voice. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting injuries. After all, kids came to explore the old farmhouse all the time and as far as Scott knew, none of them had ever been seriously injured. But Scott and Virgil _hadn't_ been at the farmhouse – at least not for the whole time – and the officers didn't know that.

"His leg's broken," Scott answered, seeing that Virgil was in too much pain to do so himself. Charlie looked at him and nodded before returning his attention to the younger boy. Judging that the injured leg was the one Virgil was holding so tightly, he lifted the boy's jeans so that the lower part of his limb was exposed. Scott saw his eyes darken, but the man kept his voice light when he spoke. "That's a nasty break you've got there."

Virgil didn't reply, so he turned to Scott again. "When did this happen?"

Scott glanced down at his watch before answering. "A couple of hours ago." The man's face was impassive and that made Scott feel uneasy. He'd known that Virgil's injury was bad, but maybe it was worse than he'd realised.

Charlie just nodded again, and then slipped the black bag he had been carrying off his shoulders. He rummaged around in it for a few seconds before pulling out two blankets. He handed one to Scott, who took it without comment and watched as the young man carefully manoeuvred the other blanket so that it was wrapped around his brother.

Scott was so focussed on Virgil that he didn't notice when Frank came up behind him. "Put that around you," the older man said and pointed to the blanket. It took a few seconds for the words to sink in, but when they did, Scott did as he was told. He felt warmer immediately. "And let me take a look at that hand," the old man said. Scott looked down at the hand in surprise. It was still wrapped in the sleeve of Virgil's jacket, the rest of which was dragging along the ground. He had almost forgotten about it.

Scott could feel the man's gaze on him, so he nodded and held the hand out for inspection. Frank took it and carefully unwrapped the crude bandage, letting it drop to the floor.

Now that it wasn't gushing blood, Scott could get a better look at his injury. The cut was deep and about two and a half inches long, taking up most of his palm. And, thanks to Virgil's jacket, the skin around the wound had gone kind of pale and wrinkly, like when you stay in the bath for too long. The whole thing looked a bit gruesome and Scott was fairly certain that it as going to scar. During the examination, he saw Frank move away from him and return a few seconds later with a proper bandage and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol.

The old man took Scott's hand again and tipped some of the disinfectant onto a swab before running it over the cut. Scott, who was well aware of what that would do, had braced himself for the stinging pain, but still had to bite his lip to keep quiet. That stuff _hurt_. Still, the old man took no notice of his young patient's reaction and just went straight on to bandaging the wound.

While this was going on, Scott tried in vain to see what was happening with Virgil and Charlie, but Frank's form standing in front of him blocked his view. Somehow, the old man had managed to move him away from his brother without him noticing, which immediately made Scott frustrated. He tried to keep his emotions in check – after all, the man was only doing his job – but he hated not knowing what was going on.

After what seemed like an eternity for Scott, the job was done and Frank moved out of his way to put the supplies back. Scott could now see that Charlie was carrying Virgil, who was still wrapped securely in the blanket, but his injured leg remained untouched. It seemed that they didn't have the right equipment to treat it here. Virgil himself had his eyes closed and appeared to be as comfortable as he could be in the situation, but something about the whole thing seemed wrong to Scott. Charlie was a nice enough guy, but Scott's protective big brother instincts were complaining loudly that _he _should be the one looking after his younger sibling, not this random guy in a uniform who he barely even knew.

Scott was still silently arguing with himself when Frank, who had finished packing up the supplies and slipped the black bag onto his back, came over to him. "We're about ready to leave," the old man said in that same gruff voice. "Are you right to walk?"

Up until then, Scott had still been worrying about Virgil, but that last question started up alarm bells in his head. No way in hell was he going to be carried home! He had his pride to look after. "Yes, I'm fine," he said firmly. Charlie looked doubtful, but Frank accepted his answer with a curt nod.

"Make sure you keep up the pace," the old man said. "Your brother needs a hospital, and so do you."

That appeared to be all that was going to be said on the matter, because Frank then passed him Charlie's flashlight and got out his own before striding silently out the door. Charlie paused to give Scott a reassuring smile and then followed his partner, leaving the boy to grab his own bag, still dumped on the floor, as he headed out into the night.

The group moved quickly, with Frank leading the way and Scott keeping pace with Charlie who was still carrying Virgil. The older boy couldn't help checking on his brother every minute or so and because of this, the journey seemed to take forever. His own injury wasn't nearly as painful as it had been, but he got the feeling that things were just getting worse for Virgil.

He barely watched where he was going and stumbled a few times, much to his embarrassment. After a while, he found himself wondering why Frank and Charlie hadn't just come in a car, but that answer was obvious. The terrain around these parts – although relatively flat – could still be very uneven. In some places, it would have been like driving through a field of potholes. Considering that their job was originally just to find a couple of teenagers sheltering from the rain, it probably seemed to them like less trouble to go on foot. Unfortunately, that made things a lot harder for them now.

Despite growing up in the area, Scott found that it was very difficult to judge where they actually were. The darkness made everything look unfamiliar, but when he finally saw the glow of a house up ahead, he knew at once exactly where he was. It appeared that they had changed direction while walking and were now approaching the Kansas farmhouse from the front. He was exhausted but the sight of the familiar, welcoming building gave him an overwhelming urge to run, which seemed to block out everything else. The only thing that kept him in his place was Virgil; because there was no way he was turning up on their front door without his little brother.

Although they were approaching the building painfully slow, Scott could feel himself beginning to let go of the anxiety that had weighed him down since their adventure had gone wrong... until he heard raised voices coming from inside the house. Scott frowned as they reached the bottom of the porch steps. He could now make out that the raised 'voices' were actually only one, and that one voice sounded a lot like...

At that moment, the front door burst open and there stood Jeff Tracy, flashlight in hand. The look on his face was one of pure determination as he made to walk down the steps, but when he saw who was standing there he froze. The silence that followed only lasted a second and then Scott found himself gripped tightly in his father's arms while the rest of the family spilled out of the house with shouts of relief. Knowing that both Virgil and himself were in good hands, Scott allowed himself to be swallowed up by the warmth and security that surrounded him. They were home.

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Yay! They finally made it back :) Doesn't everyone love a happy ending? Anyway, there is now only one chapter of this story left... sad, huh? Well, not too sad. I'm actually over the moon because this will be my first _completed_ multi-chapter story :) Reviews are great, and have the ability to turn a crappy day into an awesome one :)


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